National Bank Financial Predicts Weaker Earnings for Metro

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) – National Bank Financial reduced their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Metro in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, November 5th. National Bank Financial analyst V. Shreedhar now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $1.11 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.12. The consensus estimate for Metro’s current full-year earnings is $4.82 per share.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported C$1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of C$1.35. Metro had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 4.36%. The firm had revenue of C$6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$6.58 billion.

MRU has been the topic of a number of other reports. National Bankshares raised their price objective on Metro from C$85.00 to C$88.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Cfra lifted their price target on shares of Metro from C$76.00 to C$85.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. TD Securities raised Metro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from C$80.00 to C$92.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Metro from C$77.00 to C$86.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Desjardins lifted their price objective on Metro from C$75.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$84.25.

Metro Price Performance

MRU stock opened at C$85.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of C$19.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is C$84.36 and its 200 day moving average is C$79.57. Metro has a 52 week low of C$65.43 and a 52 week high of C$87.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 64.18, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Metro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 24th. Metro’s dividend payout ratio is 32.76%.

About Metro

Metro Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer, franchisor, distributor, and manufacturer in the food and pharmaceutical sectors in Canada. The company operates supermarkets, discount, neighborhood, and specialty stores that provide fresh and grocery products, baked goods, prepared food products, meats, dairy products, fruits and vegetables, frozen food products, bakery products, delicatessen items, and pastries.